Chapter Twenty-Three

Cold Light of Day

Compared to her own efforts, the invaders had taken an absolute age to set up their base. After five days of pissing about, they had finally managed to complete the wall around their compound.

Not that Paren was complaining about that. The open walls had allowed her to claim a dozen lives via her new pets, which she had taken to calling Dart-Raptors. Their quick attacks and nasty venom were the perfect combination to take down those unwise enough to hang around the edge of the base once it got dark. Her pets got five the first night, even managing to drag the bodies of three of them back to her, though they were a little the worse for wear by the time they arrived.

After that, the base kept the exterior lit, which made things more complicated, but there were always the drunk, foolish, or horny to prey on. They had accounted for the rest of her kills.

She would never understand why they didn’t learn after the second attack, but she took the kills gratefully enough.

Just last night, however, her patrol had wandered into a trap with soldiers in uniform waiting to ambush her pets. Only one of the five had escaped, but she had taken out one of the soldiers on the way out.

Now, with the sun risen, they had finally closed up the base, and the first foraging parties had headed out.

Paren had decided to ignore them for now, considering there was a squad of soldiers with scanners tracking the blood trail left by her Dart-Raptor as it fled last night.

The mini-scan drones she had built a couple of days ago were hidden in the trees, sending a constant stream of readings back to her, which she displayed on a small console in the corner of her lab.

Seven red dots were moving slowly through the trees, brushing around the mountains' base and steadily working toward the target area.

Paren loved it when people played along with the plan.

“I am heading out now,” The Girl said from the doorway to the lab. “Can I leave Teddy here with you? I don’t want him to get hurt.”

“Sister,” Paren said with a sigh, “He is a bioorganic machine over a metal alloy skeleton with teeth and claws that can turn an armored vehicle into a pile of scrap in a single swipe. His nanite-infused flesh is damn near impervious to kinetic weapons, and his fur distributes energy attacks better than most shields. He is not going to get hurt.”

“Uh-huh,” The Girl nodded. “So, can I?”

“Of course,” Paren huffed. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“I have trained them for five days, and they are wearing your latest gear,” The Girl smiled. “What is the point of the training if I won’t let them kill things?”

“Just… be careful or whatever,” Paren said awkwardly.

“What about you?” The Girl asked.

“I have plenty to do,” Paren said with a smile. “Some toys are coming into my testing area.”

The Girl laughed and waved as she headed out.

Paren used the complex's cameras to follow her progress to the training area, where she collected five of the grey-skinned people and headed for the exit on the second floor.

Each one was dressed in a simplified exo-suit with power armor, all hidden beneath a nanite-infused cloth ending in hoods.

They had insisted on the hoods for some reason.

The moment they dropped to the floor, the cloth began to shift, making them invisible to the eye and, more importantly, to scanners.

Teddy arrived moments later, snuffling over to the far corner and curling up.

Seeing the squad was about ten minutes away from the testing area; Paren decided to quickly check in on Robot.

The strangely artistic man was currently in his own private quarters, so Paren did something that did not come naturally to her.

She knocked and waited.

“Come in,” Robot called.

When she opened the door, Paren saw a new set of arms being constructed on a workbench. Robot was carefully peering through a magnifier while he connected a set of wires to the control circuits on the shoulders.

Unlike his other ones, these arms were elegant and smooth, with intricate patterns engraved on the armor plates. Looking closer—because she was still Paren after all—she noted the same patterns from the display upstairs recreated here.

Resting one arm on his shoulder, Paren traced the patterns, seeing crystals inlaid in them.

“Why the crystal?” she asked him.

“I am making a pathway for the energy,” Robot reported.

“What energy?” Paren asked, not seeing any power cells built into the arms.

“The Transit Energy,” Robot replied simply. “It does not like organic matter, but I have none in these arms. “Not even carbon.”

“This is what you wanted the folded stone for?” Paren asked.

“Yes, what do you think?”

“I think they are amazing,” Paren said honestly, “But how can you use Transit Energy? Unless you are thinking of fighting in Transit Space?”

“It is all around,” Robot insisted. “Is it not?”

Paren said nothing at first. The truth was, she sort of agreed since she had seen his art display, but it made no sense according to the laws she knew, so she was ignoring it.

Trying to, anyway.

The knowledge that it was there, just a shift of state away, was kind of fucking with her head a little. It was like being in a bubble beneath the ocean. Growing up inside, you never even thought about it. Until someone showed you how thin the skin of the bubble was, then it was all you could think about.

“I have made a thing,” Robot held up his creation shyly. “I think it will work.”

Paren looked closely at the tiny piece of tech.

“Is that a miniaturized Exo-System Drive?” Paren gaped.

“Not quite,” Robot said. “I have removed the drive component. I think it will just open a small conduit for the energy.”

“I–I–I have no idea what this will do….” Paren admitted.

“Really?” Robot looked surprised.

“Yeah,” Paren said, as shocked as he was. “Please, make sure you are careful when you test this, okay?”

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“Okay.” Robot shrugged.

Paren wandered back to her lab, feeling unusually unsettled and frustrated. Robot had come up with something new, which was good. She absolutely supported him in all things.

The thing that was bothering her was that she had no idea how he was coming up with any of this. It was like he was just… feeling it.

The lack of understanding on her part was new to her. She had never failed to understand anything.

Ever.

It was infuriating.

Her eyes turned to the scanner, where the squad was just entering the testing grounds.

Oh, good. Something to vent her frustrations on.

===<<<>>>===

Bannerman led her troops carefully into the rock-strewn valley. They had set out hours ago to track the injured predator back to its nest and exterminate them. The last few nights had been marked by the creatures’ attacks, and Kilravock did not want to have to worry about the scouting parties he sent out being attacked.

Twelve people in less than a week was starting to make people nervous.

She had gotten suspicious after the first three hours.

No animal should have left a blood trail for that long without bleeding out, but their scout and tracker insisted it was possible.

So, here they were.

The blood trail had led them right into the mouth of the valley and then just… vanished.

“Spread out and keep well clear of the rocks,” Bannerman ordered her two Silvers. “I want a pair on each side of the valley; let your Bronzes lead, and the three of us will head straight in.”

There were no elevated positions for the things to attack from here, but the larger boulders could hide them long enough to let them attack. With the flanks covered and the three of them in the center, they could cover each other as they approached the large pile of boulders on the far side of the valley.

She was betting that was where the nest was, and Bannerman had a nice big bomb to end the threat for good.

After checking that everyone was in position, Bannerman started forward, keeping the two Bronze units in sight at all times. They each had a copper with them, but she remembered how crappy their armor was. They were pretty much just there to carry the spare ammo and be the first into anywhere dangerous.

It wasn’t a nice way to think, but Bannerman had done her time as one, and they all knew what they were signing up for.

Especially those under her command.

Nothing showed behind the first large boulder, the one that had looked most likely to yield an ambush, and Bannerman started to relax.

The things had only come at night, which suggested they slept during the day, which would mean an easy job, but she had still been worried.

The next boulder was on the left, and they took positions as the pair on that side carefully approached before they waved it was clear, and they moved on. Two more boulders and they were almost halfway to the target, with a large boulder on the right as the final real worry.

Again, they took positions, but even from here, Bannerman could tell it was clear.

The copper waved the all-clear, and the pair walked behind the boulder.

They did not come out again…

Bannerman whistled, and the group began to surround the boulder, edging carefully to never get close enough for one of the things to leap.

There was nothing there.

“Gold Bannerman?” One of the Silver’s called.

“Send in a roller,” Bannerman called, and the remaining copper pulled off their backpack with a grunt.

Rollers were standard equipment for the Line, given how often they were taking things from debtors or defaulters. Those kinds of people tended to take extreme measures to defend their things. Like booby traps.

The roller was a weighted drone with heavy armor plating and minimal moving parts to prevent it from getting easily damaged. They did what the name implied, rolling over an area and setting off any traps as well as drawing any fire from the more jumpy enemies.

“Rolling!” The copper called, setting it off toward the rock while Bannerman brought up the internal camera to see everything up close.

Just as it passed behind the rock, the floor bent in, dropping it into a dark space where the camera showed several of the creatures attacking the roller before the camera failed.

“No one moves!” Bannerman yelled. “They are trapdoor ambushers!”

Bannerman swore as she scanned the ground around them. Anywhere they stepped could be their end. She motioned them to retrace their steps but had only gone a few steps before the remaining copper screamed and vanished in a puff of dust.

“Fuck!” The Bronze trooper started to back away before she shouted for him to stop. There were two sets of tracks on the ground that had just given way and swallowed the Copper.

That was somewhere they had already walked on, meaning….

She looked at her own feet, feeling a heavy sense of dread.

The traps could be anywhere, even where they had already walked.

“Flame-Bursts!” Bannerman called. “Everyone walks carefully; test each piece of ground before you step on it. If it opens, drop the grenade in, then cover.”

“Yes, Gold!” They called, but she heard her own fear reflected in their voices.

“We are going forward,” Bannerman said before they could move. “They put trapdoors behind, so we go forward.”

The chorus of ‘Yes, Gold’ was a lot less certain this time, but Bannerman ignored that. If they cleared the nest, the trapdoors would be nothing to worry about.

Three steps on, and the ground beneath her front foot sagged down as if on hinges. Bannerman threw the Flame-Burst into the darkness and stepped back, crouching down as a wash of flame and a ‘whoomph’ came from inside.

A creature screamed in pain, and she smiled.

Less than ten feet from the dark gap between the boulders, the silver on her right found another trapdoor. This time, as they raised the grenade to throw it, a figure leaped out of the ground. The bright fins around it showed for a second before it wrapped around the silver, dragging it back underground.

The Flame Burst was sent tumbling and skipping across the ground, spinning to a stop just between Bannerman and the other Silver.

“SHIT!” Bannerman threw herself down, feeling the heat wash over her armor as the remaining silver began to scream.

Looking up, she saw the Silver scrabbling at its helmet as the flames stuck to its armor.

“Stop!” she tried to call out, but the panicked trooper ripped off their scalding hot helmet, exposing their skin to the flames.

The head went up like a fucking candle, and Bannerman did the only thing she could to help.

Drawing a bead with her rifle, she shot the screaming trooper between the eyes.

There was nothing else to be done.

Getting to her feet, Bannerman found herself alone.

“FUCK YOU!” She yelled into the sky and froze as she heard laughter in response.

“Hello?” Bannerman called.

“Sorry,” the voice said. “That was rude. Please continue. You are almost there now.”

“Who are you?” Bannerman reached down as casually as possible and pushed the transmit button on her gauntlet against her thigh. They had to know that there were people on this planet. Enemies, it would seem.

“Yeah, that won’t work,” the voice continued. “On you go.”

“Why would I do that?” Bannerman asked. “This is obviously what you want me to do, so why would I do it?”

“There are alternatives,” the voice said. “But you might not like them.”

A hiss from behind Bannerman made her turn, and she saw the creatures emerging from behind boulders all around her.

She fired quickly, but they ducked away while one launched from the other side.

Rolling away, Bannerman got to her feet again, walking backward as she fired until she felt the rock against her back.

“Fine! I’m here!” Bannerman spat angrily. “Now what?”

“Now?” the voice sounded confused. “Now, nothing; I just wanted to see if it would work.”

Bannerman looked down, seeing her armored boots had sunk several inches into the stone. A stone that did not move when she tried to free herself.

“Fuck!” Bannerman began to slam the butt of her rifle against the stone. “Fuck!”

The rifle butt slid into the stone like it was water, only for it to set again instantly. “What the hell is this stuff?”

“Hmm, oh, that’s rock.” the voice sounded distracted. “Hey, just out of interest, how long do you think before they send people after you?”

“Are you fucking serious?” Bannerman snarled. “Why would I tell you that?”

“Politeness?” the voice asked.

“Go fuck yourself, you twisted bitch!” Bannerman snapped.

“How about if I ask with a nice smile?” the voice asked coldly, and Bannerman heard movement amongst the rocks behind her.

With shaking hands, she drew her pistol and tried to turn.

Black insects the size of large dogs were crawling from the cracks and crevices between the rocks, and each of them had mandibles in silvered metal that looked like a twisted smile.

One of them began to drool.

“Fuck you,” Bannerman hissed as they began to come closer. “I am still armed.”

“That thing,” the voice laughed. “Go ahead. It won’t even break the skin.”

“Why?” Bannerman asked, throwing off her helmet as she leaned back, putting the pistol to her head. “I just want to know why?”

“You came here to kill us all, and now you are asking for mercy?” the voice asked.

“Yes. Yes, I am,” Bannerman pleaded. “I am begging for it.”

“Okay, I’ll show mercy,” the voice said, and Bannerman felt a moment of hope. “I’ll let you pull that trigger before I let them eat you.”

“Fucking bitch,” Bannerman wept.

“I can always change my—”

Bannerman pulled the trigger.